Iowa Barnstormers Examiner
The Iowa Barnstormers will have to battle for air supremacy in 2011 as the Kansas City Brigade return to the Arena Football League! The Brigade franchise has been dormant since the original Arena Football League was shut down to reorganize in 2009, but the AFL announced the return of the team for the 2011 season as the newly configured Arena Football League continues to grow. The close proximity between Des Moines and Kansas City should make this a very spirited rivalry, since it’s likely that fans of both teams will make the 2-3 hour trip down, or up, Interstate 35 to support their teams, very much like the old hockey rivalry between the Iowa Stars/Chops and the Omaha Aksarben Knights.
The Brigade originally became a franchise in 2006 in the AFL and soon became very popular in Kansas City among fans, bringing in crowds of more than 12,000, however since the Barnstormers competed in the Arena Football 2 league at the time, the two teams never met on the field.
Having a well-supported rival so close to the Barnstormers should be mutually beneficial to both clubs, both financially and in attendance, thanks to some overlapping fan base as well as those rabid road warriors that will travel to support their team and perhaps heckle a few of the home team’s fans. Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines and the Sprint Center in Kansas City are two of the newest, most state-of-the-art facilities in the league, which makes going to the games just that much more enjoyable.
During the absense of the Arena Football League in 2009 and 2010, many football-starved Brigade fans made the trip from Kansas City to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to watch and support the Barnstormers in the AF2, some even wearing their Brigade gear. Is it safe to assume that those folks will be back to Wells Fargo Arena in 2011? Probably, but this time they won’t be cheering for the Barnstormers.
Let the dog fights begin! Go ‘Stormers!
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